The Northeast Ultra 8 Gold Skyrunner Challenge requires participants to complete eight brutal hikes under a strict time limit. Joe Palisi is the first to do it in winter.
By Nate Weitzer
As he descended into the notch between Saddelback and Basin on the Adirondacks Great Range route in December of 2023, Joe Palisi caught the wrong angle with one of his snowshoes. The next thing he knew, he was sliding uncontrollably down a steep snow slope and into a gap between boulders.
Thankfully unharmed, Palisi consulted with his partner that there was nowhere to go but over the 4,827-foot peak in their path to reach the Phelps Trail so they could bail off the route. By the time they reached a stashed car, Palisi had mild frostbite on his toes, and a newfound respect for taking on the Northeast Ultra Eight Sky Runner Challenge in winter.
Created in 2017 by Elmira, New York resident Doug Duncan, the Northeast Ultra Eight is a list of rugged hiking routes in the Northeast. The Sky Runner Challenge emerged in 2021 to test those who wanted to race the routes against designated cut-off times.
In Duncan’s neighborhood, the list includes the Great Range Traverse (22.7 miles and 8,800 feet of gain over many of the state’s highest peaks), the Devil’s Path (22.5 miles and 8,000 feet over the northern Catskills), the relatively flat but ultra-remote Cranberry 50 loop in the Western Adirondacks, and the Saranac 6er, requiring six short and steep climbs near Saranac Lake.
Add the iconic Presidential Traverse (18.5 miles, 8,500 feet) and Pemigewasset Loop (30 miles, 9,000 feet) in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, and the obstacle course portion of the Appalachian Trail in Maine known as the Mahoosuc Traverse (29 miles, 10,500 feet), and you have enough challenges to last a lifetime. Oh, and don’t forget the Taconic Crest Trail (36 miles, 7,500 feet) running along the borders of Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York.
There are six patches to recognize those who complete the list. Complete the hikes at any point to earn the green “Eight” patch, complete them in under 24 hours for the “Ultra Eight” patch, or blaze through them in impressive time for a Sky Runner patch. Complete all eight in winter (against different cut-off times) and summer for a gold patch.
So far there have been 151 Northeast Ultra Eight finishers (and three dogs), nine Sky Runners, and five humans (and one dog) have completed the winter list without meeting the cut-off times. This past March, Palisi became the first to finish the Northeast Ultra Eight in winter under cut-off requirements ranging from 14 to 20 hours.
A high school track and football athlete with limited hiking experience before 2023, Palisi got his summer Sky Runner badge in 2024 without issue. When Thomas Orr, a friend on the Hiking NEU8 Facebook Page, invited him to attempt Devil’s Path in January of 2025, the resident of Troy, New York hesitantly agreed.
“After the Great Range [in 2023] I didn’t know if I wanted to do [the winter challenge],” said Palisi. “But Devil’s Path isn’t quite as gnarly. It was a really long day and I learned a lot.”
The duo finished just 10 minutes under the 14-hour cutoff and started looking towards the next challenge.
Over the next 14 months, Palisi and Orr ticked off routes individually, and watched and waited for conditions to align on some of the hardest routes. Thanks to packed trails, the Presidential Traverse was a breeze. The Saranac 6er went smoothly, and after failing twice before due to unbroken powder, Palisi ran through the Taconic Crest in March after an early thaw.
With more experience under his belt, he completed the Great Range in just over 13 hours that March, leaving the Pemi Loop, Mahoosuc Traverse, and the deceptive Cranberry 50 on his task list for the following winter.
Like many trail runners, Palisi completed the summer list with a light pack and limited emergency gear. That simply isn’t possible on these routes in winter.
The 22-year-old carried 30-plus pounds of gear on each effort in case of emergency. Although he never broke out his expedition-rated puffy jacket, mittens, or Bivy sack, Palisi often changed base layers, socks, and gloves. On his feet? Either the La Sportiva Trango Tech GTX boots, or Oboz Bridger insulated boots. Snowshoes are required on all the Adirondacks routes, and were necessary for most of the other routes with a few exceptions when conditions were hard packed.
With all that on his back, there was hardly any running involved in becoming a Gold Sky Runner, just continuously efficient movement.
“Some people might think I was just going out in a running vest, but that wasn’t the case for the most part,” said Palisi. “I learned how to be very self-sufficient in difficult conditions and developed some overall grit. It taught me that these really hard goals are attainable, it just takes a lot of time and effort to get there.”
In early 2026, Orr and Palisi were shut down by two-plus feet of unconsolidated powder on the Cranberry 50 and after scouting Mahoosuc Notch in December 2025, they pulled the plug on a Mahoosuc Traverse attempt due to forecasted 40-below wind chills.
With an assist from Orr and Appalachian Trail thru-hiker Chris Paquette, Palisi completed the Pemi loop just 15 minutes under the 15-hour cut-off last December. The stars aligned 10 weeks later when Paquette sent the duo a video of prime conditions in the Mahoosucs, and he completed the route with Palisi the next day in under 17 hours. Orr followed in just over 19 hours. Both friends had seven routes under their belts with only the Cranberry 50 remaining.
“We definitely learned the ropes together,” Orr said. “Joe is more fit than I am, but I have a little more winter camping experience and am more comfortable being out there. We both learned what your body goes through in an 18 to 20-hour effort and we learned how to respect nature without being too scared.”
As winter began to fade in mid-March, snow conditions became rather punchy across the Northeast. Perhaps more than any other route, the Cranberry 50 depends on firm snow to avoid plunging into the bogs that can lurk below the trail, but Palisi decided to give it a go a few days after finishing the Mahoosuc.
Sure enough, just 1.5-miles into his hike at 3:30 a.m., he post-holed up to his waist in a frozen puddle, seemingly subverting his effort at the outset. But he walked on to warm up, changed all the clothing on his lower body (after chipping the ice off his gaiters with a multi-tool for nearly 10 minutes) and kept on trudging.
The rising sun provided some encouragement, yet it was nearly dark by the time he reached the 40-mile mark and the first road crossing on the route in the northbound direction. The last 10 miles featured plenty of suffering, but the goal was attained with a new unsupported record of 18 hours and 42 minutes.
Somewhat surprisingly, it was the route with the least amount of elevation gain and technical terrain that gave the first Gold Sky Runner the most trouble.
“Looking back [on his close call in the Great Range in 2023], it really wasn’t that bad of a day compared to some of the days I ended up having.” said Palisi.
“Going solo for almost 19 hours without seeing anyone, or really even any cars – it was intense. I just kept telling myself, ‘If you want to get the goal, just keep pushing. Slow and steady. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.’”
You can follow Joe Palisi on Instagram at @joe.palisi.
Nate Weitzer is an avid trail runner, backcountry skier, and mountain climber living in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, where he writes for multiple publications. Over the past 20 years he’s thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, climbed Mt. Rainier, Adams, Baker, Hood, and skied off multiple volcanoes. Weitzer has summitted the NH 48 in all four seasons, finished the ADK 46er list while working trail maintenance in the Keene Valley area, and completed the Colorado 14ers over the course of four summers. He’s written about the inaugural White Mountains 100 and ultrarunner Lexi Jackson for Northeast Explorer.
